Mission

Work-Integrated Learning’s mission is to promote and extend the learning process into the workplace through experiential learning.

It enhances student vocational maturation and mutual benefit to employers and the University by:

• Established Work-Integrated Learning partnerships with commerce, industry and other employer organisations aimed at providing experiential work opportunities for students
• Establishing mechanisms to promote Work-Integrated Learning inside and outside the University to increase visibility, support and participation
• Enhancing the potential for student employment through vocational socialisation and career development in jobs commensurate with their aspirations.

What is Work-Integrated Learning?

Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) is a structured educational strategy, integrating classroom studies with practical work experience in a field related to a student’s academic or career goals.

It is not an add-on to the curriculum and is an integral part of the educational process. There are academic programmes at WSU where students cannot graduate unless they complete practical work experience. This provides students with an opportunity to integrate theory and practice.

Essentially, WIL is a partnership between the educational institution, the student studying a particular programme and the employer with specified responsibilities for each party.

Promoting Work-Integrated Learning

The Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Unit at WSU was established to facilitate and promote the philosophy and application of WIL (also known as experiential learning) at the University.

The WIL programme supports the WSU mission in pursuit of its vision as a developmental university.

The University has established partnerships with a variety of businesses, government departments, community organisations and non-government organisations (NGOs) to facilitate the placement of students for work-integrated learning.

WIL Process

• While at the workplace, the student is allocated a subject expert with several years of appropriate experience in his or her area of study.
• She/he receives experiential learning under the direct supervision of the mentor who is responsible for guidance in respect to the field of study for which the student is registered.
• The academic department in which the student is registered determines the outcomes of the WIL.
• The outcomes are then incorporated into the logbooks. The results are areas to which the student must be exposed during the experiential learning period.
• All the tasks and activities completed by the student are recorded in the logbook and signed by the mentor or supervisor. The student's performance at the workplace is supervised and evaluated by the mentor or supervisor. The evaluation of the student's work by the mentor is used in part to determine the mark for experiential learning.
• At the end of the training period, the student is evaluated by the mentor and the relevant Academic Department.
• After the successful evaluation of the total experiential learning experience, confirmation on the completion of experiential learning will be officially given to the Examinations Department of WSU. Thereafter, the student can access the results.